November 04, 2011

A Name Change: Embedded Assessment Becomes dwellSense

For a couple of years, we have been calling our project Embedded Assessment, based on a really nice paper by Margie Morris. In that paper, Morris and colleagues defined embedded assessment as systems that serve monitoring, prevention and compensation purposes; are personalized to a user and embedded in a user’s everyday environment; and monitor health status and look for meaningful patterns that can inform health-related decision-making. Although this definition still holds for our project, we have decided to change the project name to dwellSense

There are a few reasons for the name change. First, embedded assessment describes a category of systems and not just our project. Our project is an example of an embedded assessment system. Second, the full name for our project started with “Embedded Assessment” but this is a shortened version of a longer name. Sometimes, we referred to it as “Embedded Assessment of Aging Adults.” Other times it was “Embedded assessment of wellness with smart home sensors.” Other times it was “Task-based embedded assessment of functional abilities for older adults, caregivers, and clinicians.” All of these are accurate, but none of them roll off the tongue particularly well and none is particularly memorable.

A couple of months ago, Matthew Lee, our dwellSense lead researcher, came up with the new name, dwellSense. I really like this new name. It’s short and succinct, and I think it sums up the main ideas behind our project; it includes sensors, focuses on where people live or dwell, and, as you can see by the logo, has a particular focus on wellness.

As Gillian Hayes wrote in a post about the FitBaby team changing its name to Estrellita, a name is important. Although the new name won’t make a difference to the participants in our study, it will likely impact others who hear about our project, the work we are doing, and the goals we are working toward.

Comments

For a couple of years, we have been calling our project Embedded Assessment, based on a really nice paper by Margie Morris. In that paper, Morris and colleagues defined embedded assessment as systems that serve monitoring, prevention and compensation purposes; are personalized to a user and embedded in a user’s everyday environment; and monitor health status and look for meaningful patterns that can inform health-related decision-making. Although this definition still holds for our project, we have decided to change the project name to dwellSense

There are a few reasons for the name change. First, embedded assessment describes a category of systems and not just our project. Our project is an example of an embedded assessment system. Second, the full name for our project started with “Embedded Assessment” but this is a shortened version of a longer name. Sometimes, we referred to it as “Embedded Assessment of Aging Adults.” Other times it was “Embedded assessment of wellness with smart home sensors.” Other times it was “Task-based embedded assessment of functional abilities for older adults, caregivers, and clinicians.” All of these are accurate, but none of them roll off the tongue particularly well and none is particularly memorable.

A couple of months ago, Matthew Lee, our dwellSense lead researcher, came up with the new name, dwellSense. I really like this new name. It’s short and succinct, and I think it sums up the main ideas behind our project; it includes sensors, focuses on where people live or dwell, and, as you can see by the logo, has a particular focus on wellness.

As Gillian Hayes wrote in a post about the FitBaby team changing its name to Estrellita, a name is important. Although the new name won’t make a difference to the participants in our study, it will likely impact others who hear about our project, the work we are doing, and the goals we are working toward.